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tv   BBC World News America  PBS  October 31, 2012 4:00pm-4:30pm PDT

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wide range of companies from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, bbc world news america. >> this is "bbc world news america" reported from washington. after 48 hours, we can finally see the scale of sandy's wrath. president obama flies into the worst hit area, new jersey. >> we are here for you. we will not forget, we will follow up and make sure that you get all of the help you need until you rebuild. >> china is the country on the rise but could at the growing wealth crap slow it down? we continue our special report.
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welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. we are going to be here for the long haul. that is what president obama promised people in new jersey. he flew into the region of the coast. more than 50 people were killed in the storm, millions are still without electricity. >> leadership and a crisis, that is what america demands of a president six days before the election, this was barack obama's chance to show it. he traveled to new jersey, the state that was in the eye of the superstore, to see the damage. >> for those like the people i
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just had the chance to meet whose lives have been up and it, my second message is, we are here for you. we will not forget, we will follow up to make sure that you get all the help that you need until it you rebuild. >> at his side, new jersey straight jersey republican -- at his side, new jersey republican governor chris christie. what the president found was scenes of utter devastation. this was seaside heights. the homes had been destroyed. this is the mangled metal of what was an amusement park. in new jersey, across the hudson river from manhattan, we found waterfront neighbors cut off.
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some attempted it the watery drive. he did not make it to the other side. this man told me he would have to climb out through the car window. he would have to take photographs of the insurance company. those without power bedded down for a second night in shelters. we met tiffany phillips who was forced out of her home in a hurry. >> i've literally just made it out because the water and up being more than waste time. >> in new york, the scale and power of the storm becomes more clear. s.i., the damage to property is mindboggling. rescuers have put their lives on the line to save others. the human cost of this disaster is rising.
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dozens of victims whose names are slowly emerging. among them, an off-duty police officer who died after helping others escape. at the heart of the city, life is slowly returning to normal. new yorkers across the brooklyn bridge on a foot. michael bloomberg sounded a defiant first belt of a reopened stock exchange. the message from the mayor is that the big apple is open for business. that only tells part of the story. in the greater new york area, there is still many many homes without power. the subway network is shut down. this is the scene at one subway station where monday night the waters rose from track to ceiling. parts of the network will reopen tomorrow. this is a city that has survived or stand sandy.
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hear, all along on the eastern seaboard. questions to test those who would lead america. >> questions indeed. for the very latest, we can go to jane hill. as steve was reported, the city is starting to get back to life. i am not sure this will be a new york that we all know. >> no, it is a very peculiar feeling. we are very near battery park on the southern tip of manhattan. this is the battery under park, one of the seven main passes through the city. four out of seven of these tunnels are still full of water. this is part of the challenge facing the authorities. in fact, he made the point that this is one of the issues that he is aware of.
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if this city is going to be back moving. these underpasses are vital to traffic flows and they have to be pumped out. this is a massive drop. it feels actually quite busy given that it is rush hour here. there are a lot of cabs in particular going up and down. i think you get a sense of this city moving. it is some way that people can get around. this is of course a subway that is the lifeblood. no service at all. there will be skeleton service tomorrow, but only for some people. it will only bridge feed -- be between brooklyn and getting into manhattan. the vast majority is still many many days from operating fully. they will not begin to put a date on it, to put a time on it. the damage to the subway is enormous and it has been
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described as the worst damage in the subways history. until you can get that running again come to get people moving up and down the island, then really, new york is not really ready to roll. >> is any speculation on how long this will take? >> journalists ask every news conference but in terms of the subway, no. they said that buses will be fully operational. that will allow people to get around. the whole system has to be cleaned out before it can be put into operation. we are talking about flooding. they have to test all of the electrics and every single station. >> ok. as you have heard, the subways to not mix with brackish water. as we have been saying, president obama has been touring
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new jersey to see the devastation for himself. for more on the government response, i spoke a short time ago to the u.s. congressman who represents atlantic city. i asked him what he needs the most. >> we need to get set up because of the devastation that it has caused so many people and this loss, as your reporter described. parts of north jersey, this is the lowest 1/3 of the state. there are parts of north jersey that have lots of structural damage. this has come into homes and businesses that will just be devastating. if you could imagine attempting to clean up without power, how much more difficult that is. getting power restored is of a primary concern, especially
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along the coast. >> i know it has only been a couple of days, but do you have any sense of how long this will take? the president has said that they will be with the residents of new jersey for however long it will take. >> it will be quite a while. i had an aerial tour with the coast guard this morning and we stressed from the delaware bay which is essentially the delaware bridge. those are rather small communities. they were totally devastated. houses that were crushed like matchbooks. roads that are totally impassible. people that cannot get out. if we move along the coast, again, we have businesses, there is one straw -- small restaurant in town a few feet from me. they have 3 feet of sand in the
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restaurant. it is difficult to determine how long it will take for the cleanup. i very pleased that the governor signed the declaration. it will be up to us to make sure that bureaucracy does not get in the way. >> ok, thank you very much for joining us. when barack obama was torn in new jersey, he was the president of the u.s., but he was also there as a candidate hoping for four more years in the job. with just six days to go, politics is inevitable part of the response. what we don't know is how it will affect the race. for more, i spoke with douglas brinkley whose experiences are chronicled in the book, the great delusion. >> well, we did have the 2005 hurricane katrina which devastated the gulf south america. we had 2000 people killed in
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that disaster. we have never had something like this, and actual disaster. what was learned from katrina is that george w. bush got a lot of phones down for doing a flyover and for not going into louisiana. for acting like he could look at it from a distance. all politicians have learned from his mistakes. uc barack obama cancelling his campaign, going to new jersey, and meeting with chris christie, a republican. most people in the u.s. he has done a good job. he was talking with the army corps as engineers. in that regard, it has helped, getting all the face time on the television when you don't see much of mitt romney. >> it has been striking, hasn't it, to see him with the governor and listening to the two of them congratulate and thank each other in this campaign we have seen such bitter politics.
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to see a democrat and republican coming together like this. >> that is supposed to be the best of america, when there is a kind of bipartisan effort in a time of disaster. you see it exemplified by obama and christie today. this election is in a dead heat. polls give obama a slight edge. some of the other states are close. nobody knows what will happen. what we do know is that romney had a little bit of momentum. he was closing gaps, then everything stopped and the election was put on hold. president obama, you can feel the momentum on his side right now. we will have to see how the election plays out. sandy, beyond being a natural disaster, will always be part of the american electoral history. >> sandy has blunted some of the more bitter partisanship.
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now. we have six days left until the elections. will we hear a different town when the present its back on the campaign trail? >> slightly different. the president will want to stay optimistic, not suddenly descend into taken some cheap shots or one liners. he is now playing commander in chief of an ongoing crisis. remember, this is not about a day when a storm hits. this will go on for weeks and months. i think you will have an optimistic tone for the president. mitt romney will be going after obama more through his sarah gets. he will have to discuss why there are better times ahead. why he can manage the economy. that has been lackluster.
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i think that home would be kinder. >> how long does it take and how much does it cost to rebuild the battered communities? in japan, they are still asking that question a year after the tsunami. billions of dollars destined for reconstruction have been misspent. >> the images of the massive it tsunami is surging ashore in march 2011 are indelibly burned into the members of people around the world. the destruction was on a scale few people had ever seen before and many found it hard to comprehend. the coastline more than 250 kilometers long was left utterly devastated. whole town's white from the map in a matter of minutes. it was clear that the cleanup and rebuilding was going to be an enormous effort. the biggest since the end of
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world war ii. the japanese government to decide 150 billion u.s. dollars to fund it. it turns out that a quarter is spent on projects completely unrelated to the disaster. the list of projects, according to the japanese government's audit, is quite extraordinary. this includes funding for a road-building project in okinawa. renovation of government buildings, fighter pilot training, an advertising campaign for the taurus building, and even if funding for their controversial willie program. this is all left the japanese government looking very read in the face. japan's prime minister has apologized to parliament and is promising such spending will be eradicated in the future. that will do little to placate the 325,000 people who remain
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displaced from the disaster zone in cramped temporary accommodations. rebuilding on this scale is a huge an extremely complicated project. there is growing frustration along the northeast coast that 19 months after the tsunami struck, virtually not a single new building has been finished. >> the extraordinary. you're watching "bbc world news america," dealing with it consequences of sandy. one woman is forced to flee the storm. now it is a painful way to see what has happened to her home. 35 years after he bought up the first star wars film, now george lucas has sold the franchise to disney for more than $4 billion. the deal will see the release of
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another three star wars movie. >> it is one the best known and most popular film series of all time and now fans that no more star wars movies are on the way. george looked as war may involve but the films will now be produced by disney who paid him 4.5 billion pounds for a look this film. >> i will go out and explore my own interest. i'm completely confident that disney will take good care of the franchise i have built. >> the last movie was released in 2005 and after the next film, disney hopes to bring out a new
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movie every two-three years. and here at the studios just as that of london is where it all began. back in 1976 when lukas made his first star wars film little knowing it would give birth to a franchise that would make billions at the box office and even more and spinoffs and merchandising. disney believes there is even more money to be made. the next movie is almost certain to be a huge commercial hit, but after that the series continued success would depend on whether audiences see if it as a triumphant return to the spirit of the original. >> the ruling communist party in china prepares to appoint a new generation of leaders. one of the biggest challenges
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is inequality of income. the new bosses want to maintain economic growth and will need to manage the gap between rich and poor. rapid developments brought prosperity for some while leaving many developments behind. >> if china's leaders could choose one of their own to symbolize their decades in power, this might be it. shanghai's rise as an important hub has been dazzling. the boom has provided jobs for millions of workers. pushing per capita income well above 12,000 u.s. dollars a year. shanghai is a symbol of modern china in and other important way. those who are growing rich here, those who pay two and a half million u.s. dollars for part was like this one are aware that the growing wealth gap is leading to resentment and anger.
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>> it is definitely getting bigger and bigger. some people are trying to make something out of it. they're trying to control everything. they're trying to calm these people down. >> some of economists argue that strong government is now part of china's problem. they have a reliance on big infrastructure spending which is stifling innovation and distorted the economy. >> this is becoming the problem, not the solution. the government is too powerful. the people are getting a smaller piece of the cake. that is why the chinese economy, it is difficult to transform from investment- driven to a consumption-driven because of the people that have enough income to consume.
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>> it is not hard to find people without a net income to consume in shanghai. -- has a fountain and kitchen with her neighbors. this city might be a success story, but it is a reminder of the challenges that lie ahead for the next generation of leaders. >> we will have more of those reports during the week. back to our top stories. the aftermath of superstore sandy. across new york, residents are trying to cope. the major disruption is couple of serious uncertainty. a librarian from long island left her home on sunday evening and is now stranded in an apartment in the east village without power. she is just one of the people that we caught up with to hear her firsthand account. >> we have never seen any storm like this. we evacuated on sunday.
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this came into my house, then it got swept away. notice, the american flag is still standing. there is the fire. hear, now, in the east village with no lights on. >> i don't have any electricity. >> i'm waiting now to see if the house is standing. i wish i have taken these with me. i did not think it down no one got hurt. nobody is -- to know, i have my dogs. other than that, we are ok. we can rebuild. >> this is the light, no power. i of political because it is
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dangerous to drive like this. we see this in the other direction. this is not safe at all for anyone's life. >> stranded, i have no power or water. i had to go charge my phone. we need to find a hot shower, that is what all of the personal tax messages are for. i have a shower for later today, tomorrow morning, tomorrow night. >> it gives me a day off in the middle of the week, so i'm not completed to but -- so i am not complaining too much.
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>> i was kind of scared. the power went out. there was a huge explosion. so, we just crashed on the couch and the floor. we are kind of young. we only had some aspect of it. school was canceled. it is kind of surprise in the under crowd, i think. -- it was kind of surprising the younger crowd, i think. >> the city without power. thankful that there is not been an even greater loss of life. that brings us to a close. remember, you can get updates on sandy's i aftermath anytime on our website.
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thank you so much for watching. from all of us here, i will see back. -- i will see you back here tomorrow. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range
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of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles.
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- hi, neighbour! tonight, my babysitter prince tuesday is coming over to take care of me. and then we're going to school with all of our friends! i'm so glad you're here with me. and, i'll be right back! is made possible in part by... the richard king mellon foundation. dedicated for over sixty years to south western pennsylvania's quality of life, and competitive future. and by these pittsburg foundations. working together to enhance and enrich the lives of children for more than seventy-five years. and by the arthur vining davis foundations. dedicated to strengthening america's future through education. adcasting, dedicated to strengthening america's future and contributions to your pbs station, from viewers like you.
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in the neighbourhood ♪ and contributions to your pbs station, ♪ a beautiful day for a neighbour ♪ ♪ would you be mine? ♪ could you be mine? ♪ won't you be my neighbour? - ♪ it's daniel tiger's neighborhood ♪ ♪ a land of make-believe ♪ won't you ride along with me? ♪ - ♪ ride along - ♪ it's daniel tiger's neighborhood ♪ ♪ so much to do, so much to see ♪ ♪ won't you ride along with me? ♪ - ♪ ride along - ♪ i've got lots of friends for you to meet ♪ ♪ in this land of make-believe ♪ a friendly face on every street ♪ just waiting to greet you ♪ it's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood ♪ ♪ a beautiful day for a neighbour ♪ ♪ in daniel tiger's neighborhood! ♪ grr! hi, neighbour! grr! i'm daniel tiger, and this is tigey! grr! we're playing jungle!

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